Saturday, June 30, 2012

The Cake Party

Since I was a child, I had a passion for cooking, I remember making my first cake when I was just 8 years old, a recipe given to us by a nun at my school. It was a chocolate cake that I decorated with a mix of butter and sugar I invented. I still remember how surprised my uncle was when he saw the decorated cake.

Actually my first encounter with the oven was when I was almost 2 years and a half. My mom had baked a cake, and left it in the oven to cool. As she was dressing my younger sister, I was drawn to the kitchen by the enchanting aroma. I bent over the half open door to get myself a piece of that cake. Little did I know that I was heavier than the oven and I tumbled over me!! When my mom came to the rescue she found a little girl still reaching for cake unaffected by that life threatening experience.

Food is a passion for many individuals, and how can it not be? Food has a strange effect on people, it brings them together in harmony and manages to draw a smile on their faces. Food is also the fast way to access a culture. You want to know more about a country? Invest some time in getting to know its cuisine.

My passion for food continued to grow. Although I enjoy preparing both savory and sweet recipes, it's in the sweet department where I found my sweet spot (pun intended).

As a Madrileña by choice, I enjoy spending time wandering in the lovely streets of old Madrid and soak in all the energy brought in by the million of its inhabitants and tourists.

As much as I love Madrid, I was always disappointed by the rare choices of quality sweet shops it had. Madrid is not Paris where excellent pastry shops can be found in the most unexpected places.

Whenever I wanted to enjoy a high quality dessert, I needed to prepare it myself. What was a nuisance at first later proved to be a blessing. I discovered just how passionate I am for cake baking and decorating.

Caring is sharing, right? I shared whatever I prepared with my friends, and most of the time they liked what the sampled.

Last week, it occurred to me. Wouldn't be great if my friends got over and we all had a relaxed evening sampling several delicate desserts I would prepare? The cake party was born.